EcoSphere Page

The information below comes from the EcoSphere web site.

The EcoSphere (built by Ecosphere & Associates) is a complete miniature world. It is self-contained,
self-renewing and biologically balanced. It resembles the earth itself
and the space colonies that mankind will soon inhabit. It is, in effect,
a model of the Earth's own ecosystem when provided by an outside energy
source, light.

Within the glass globe are micro-organisms, bright red shrimp, algae,
and snails, all in a clear "soup" of filtered sea water - a closed ecosystem
in which plant and animal life are mutually sustaining. The
shrimp and snails (the animals) are the only animals known to live in these
tiny worlds. They are masters of utilizing their resources, without overpopulating,
or contaminating their environment.

The EcoSphere is permanently sealed. It requires
no feeding, cleaning, or care.

Putting an EcoSphere
under fluorescent or indirect light is all that is needed. The living organisms
then convert light into other forms of energy. The natural daily cycle
of light and darkness provides all the energy necessary for the system
to sustain and renew itself.

The algae bask in the light and produce oxygen as they grow. Light together
with carbon dioxide in the water, enable the algae to produce the oxygen
by photosynthesis. The shrimp and the snails breathe the oxygen while nibbling
on the algae and bacteria. The bacteria break down the shrimp waste into
nutrients, which the algae utilize. The algae and microorganisms are constantly
growing, dying and being eaten by the animals. The shrimp, snails, and
bacteria also give off carbon dioxide, which the algae, again, use to produce
oxygen. And so the cycle renews itself.

The life expectancy of the shrimp is known to exceed five years, and in
many spheres, shrimp are still thriving after 7 years.

A true example of space-age science, the first EcoSphere was developed
by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. NASA was
researching self-contained communities for space explorers to live in during
long-term flight. A scientist developed a balanced system capable of sustaining
plant and animal life. This was the first step, to design and build small
working models of sealed, ecologically perfect communities: EcoSpheres.